Race
Your choice of a character race provides you with a unique set of advantages and special abilities which help to define your character. __TOC__ =Origin= Not all creatures are native to the material world, and not all material creatures are strictly natural. In this world, a creature’s origin can affect what sorts of magic and supernatural powers affect it. Natural Natural creatures are descended from normal, physical beings. Fey Fey creatures are descended from beings native to the feywild, a parallel plane of existence where arcane and primal magics are much more potent. Elemental Elemental creatures are descended from beings native to the elemental planes, roiling vistas of chaos constructed from the raw building blocks of matter: earth, water, air and fire. While the sages believe there were originally five elements, the fifth element of wood has been almost entirely subsumed by the feywild. Celestial Celestial creatures are descended from beings native to the astral sea, a shining expanse that houses the gods and their servants. Infernal Infernal creatures are descended from demons, great elementally-infused descendents (or some say originators) of the immortal races. Draconic Draconic creatures are descended from dragons, great elementally-infused reptilian monsters which ruled the earth before the coming of mankind, and which still rule from kingdoms and lairs in the unexplored corners of the world. =Speed= Most creatures have a speed rating, which is how many paces they may move per move action. Some creatures have additional forms of movement, such as a swim or fly speed. Such creatures may use the additional movement mode without difficulty, moving their full amount without the need for an Athletics check. =Racial Encounter Feats and Favored Classes= Each creature may also gain a racial encounter feat, which is a per-encounter feat that they may use alongside their class feats. Each creature has a single encounter power pool point that may only be used for their racial power, unless they have encounter powers from a favored class. Each race has several options; when you choose your race, you may choose any one of these options as your racial encounter feat. Most creatures favor one of the six basic class themes - Martial, Cunning, Primal, Arcane, Eldritch, or Divine. Human beings (and by inheritance, half-elves) are unique in that their innate versatility allows them to favor any class. If you choose a class that your race favors, you may choose a third Rank 1 encounter feat from your class as if it was a racial encounter feat, and your racial encounter pool slott counts as a third rank 1 encounter pool slot - you effectively have three rank 1 encounter pool slots instead of two rank one slots and one racial slot. =Racial Proficiencies= Each race has a list of skill or weapon proficiencies that you may gain training in. You may choose one of the skills listed and gain training in that skill, or may choose one of the weapon or armor proficiency option listed and gain its benefits. =Shape= Creatures come in all manner of shapes. In general, creatures will fall into one of the following general body plans. Humanoid Humanoid creatures are roughly man-shaped, with a definable head, torso, two arms, and two legs. =Size= Character and monster races come in six different sizes: tiny, small, medium, large, huge, and colossal. Your size affects your maximum hit points, your reflex and fortitude defenses, and what weapons you can wield. Optional Rule:Consistent Hit Points Optionally, you may choose to give Tiny and Small characters the same number of maximum hit points as medium creatures. This will make five-inch high pixies incredibly tough for their size, but should help with their survivability significantly. Tiny Tiny creatures are less than two feet tall and weigh less than 10 lbs. A tiny creature suffers a -2 size penalty to their fortitude and melee damage bonus. On the other hand, a tiny creature gains a +2 size bonus to their reflex defense and a +2 size bonus to all unarmed and melee attack rolls. Tiny creatures must wield weapons which are specifically sized to fit them; this effect reduces the size of each of their weapon’s dice by one die level (D12 to D10, D10 to D8, D8 to D6, D6 to D4, D4 to 1 damage point per die) and reduces their weapon’s reach by one - weapons without the reach property may only be used to attack the same space that the tiny creature is in. A tiny creature may occupy the same space as another creature, regardless of the other creature’s size. Small Small creatures are between two and four feet tall and weigh between 10 and 50 lbs. A small creature suffers a -1 size penalty to their fortitude and melee damage bonus, but gains a +1 size bonus to their reflex defense and a +1 size bonus to all unarmed and melee attack rolls. Small creatures must wield versatile weapons as if they were two-handed weapons without the versatile quality, and cannot wield two-handed weapons that do not have the small property. Up to two small creatures may easily occupy the same space, but a small creature may not occupy the space of a medium or larger creature without squeezing to fit. Medium Medium creatures are between four and eight feet tall and weigh between 50 and 400 lbs. Most of the world is built to the scale of medium creatures; a medium creature gains no benefits or penalties. Only one medium creature may occupy a single space without difficulty. Large Large creatures are between eight and twelve feet tall and weigh between 400 and 2000 lbs. A Large creature gains a +1 size bonus to their fortitude and melee damage bonus, but suffers a -1 size penalty to their reflex and to all unarmed and melee attack rolls. Large creatures must wield weapons which are specifically sized to fit them; this effect increases the size of each of their weapon’s dice by one die level (d4 to d6, d6 to d8, d8 to d10, d10 to 2d6, d12 to 2d8) and increases their weapon’s reach by 1 - weapons without the reach property gain reach 1. Large creatures occupy a 2x2 square space. Huge Huge creatures are between twelve and twenty feet tall and weigh between 2000 and 10,000 lbs. A Huge creature gains a +2 size bonus to their fortitude and melee damage bonus, but suffers a -2 size penalty to reflex and a -2 size penalty to all unarmed and melee attack rolls. Huge creatures must wield weapons which are specifically sized to fit them; this doubles their weapon’s damage and reach - weapons without the reach property gain reach 1. Huge creatures occupy a 3x3 square space. Colossal Colossal creatures are over 20 feet tall and weigh several tons. A Colossal creature gains a +5 size bonus to fortitude and melee weapon damage, but suffers at a -5 size penalty to reflex and all unarmed and melee attack rolls. Colossal creatures must wield weapons which are specifically sized to fit them; this triples their weapon’s damage and reach - weapons without the reach property gain reach 2. Colossal creatures occupy a 4x4 square space or more. =Defense Bonuses= Most races provide a +1 racial bonus to one or more defenses. All races except for humans must choose a single defense to gain a +1 bonus to; humans gain a +1 racial bonus to each defense. Some races do not gain bonuses to defenses, but instead gain resistance to a particular type of damage or effect. =Ability Bonuses= Once you have chosen your race, look at the racial ability bonuses. Each race has one ability that gains a +2 racial bonus, and a choice of one of two other abilities that receives a +2 bonus. Unless your racial choice specifies otherwise, these bonuses may increase your ability score beyond 18, to a maximum of 20. Proficiencies Next, choose one of the Skills or Weapon groups listed in your race's Proficiency section, and gain training in that skill or weapon group. After you have adjusted your abilities, note your ability scores. If your Dexterity score is 15 or higher, you may choose one additional weapon group of your choice, and gain proficiency in that group. If your Intelligence score is 15 or higher, you may choose one additional Skill of your choice, and gain training in it. Even if you qualify for more than one of these options, you may only choose a single Skill or Proficiency. This Skill or Proficiency is in addition to the Skill and Proficiency training that you gain from your race and character class. =Languages= Each character knows one native language based on their race, and an additional number of languages equal to their Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). It is a good idea for the players to get together before play begins and agree upon a single language that every character in their party will know.